Strong winds cause power outages for thousands in Twin Cities
Thousands of people were without power Saturday afternoon. (Credit Xcel Energy Power Outage Map)
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Strong winds caused power outages for thousands of people in the Twin Cities metro area Saturday afternoon.
Xcel Energy said strong winds damaged equipment which caused power outages. The company said approximately 30,000 customers were affected but their outage map indicated approximately 80,000 customers in Minnesota were affected by power outages at 1:45 p.m. Most of the power outages were reported in the west metro.
"Because we plan and prepare for weather that may impact our reliability, we had extra crews proactively scheduled this weekend, and they are currently on site assessing the damages and working to safely restore power as quickly as possible," an Xcel Energy spokesperson said in a press release.
Potentially strong storms are expected throughout the day on Saturday.